AmplifiedLIFE

It’s a warm September night here in Austin. We took a short walk over to the Congress Avenue Bridge to see, what has become a major Austin tourist attraction. The largest urban bat colony in North America live under this bridge in the gaps between the concrete. Two million Mexican free-tailed bats. For some perspective, there are only 900,000 PEOPLE living in Austin. Every evening from March through September, the bats come out at dusk, forming a black bat-cloud that spirals out into the sky. This nightly bat-feeding was initially met with fear by the locals, but slowly an appreciation developed for these gentle and incredibly sophisticated animals. Now as the sun sets, a crowd of people gather to watch in fascination. During each nightly foray the bats manage to eat an estimated 30,000 POUNDS of insects, moths, beetles, dragonflies, flies wasps and ants! This spectacle attracts as many as 100,000 tourists annually and it gives an $8 million economic boost to the city of Austin. Did you know that Mexican free-tailed bats are widely regarded as one of the most abundant mammals in North America? They are only about 3 1/2 inches long and weigh about .75 oz. They used to roost in caves and in the halls of trees, but now many bats prefer buildings and other man-made structures. They hunt their prey using echolocation. Bats are also very efficient pollinators. In fact, their pollination of sugarcane, as well as their consumption of insects damaging to sugarcane, is why Bacardi rum features the Mexican free tailed bat as its icon.

Russell and Miles are a father-and-son Norwich Terrier combo of fun. And today? Why there’s fresh snow! The first of the season! It’s November 16, 2022, and we're here in Ottawa, Canada’s capital city. The weather is mild, the snowflakes are fluffy and it’s time for some puppy-play! Although Russell hasn’t seen snow in at least six months, at the grand age of three, he has seen that many winters so far. In fact, Russell came into the world in wintertime and for a while, he must have thought this frozen world was all there was. What a surprise he must have had as the snow began to melt and the flowers began to bloom after many months of cold and dark. Ah, but that’s another story. Today, Russell gets to be the experienced gentleman, hesitating only a brief moment before bravely plunging forth into the white stuff. On the other hand, Miles has never seen such a wonder before. His four-month-old world has been transformed overnight. Let’s freshly discover it ourselves, right along with him … and his dad, as they step out of the doorway and into icy-cold adventure!

Miles is a 3-month-old Norwich Terrier puppy. He just arrived from the breeders and he’s settling into his new forever home. It was an hour’s drive and little Miles is VERY thirsty from his journey!

This person stopped their car on a lonely country road in Val des Monts, Quebec, Canada, and watched as a family of wild turkeys made their way across the divide.

Waking early, on a mid-August morning at a lake in Quebec, I saw my chance to get a shot I’ve been wanting to get for a while now. Coffee in hand, I walked through the fog down to the edge of the dock, propped my trusty iPhone X against a wood railing and proceeded to capture a time lapse of last night’s blanket of fog slowly drifting away with the rising sun. The day began with an overnight low temperature of 56°F (13°C), on its way to a mid-day high of 81°F (27°C). Ah, August in Canada! - warm summer days and brisk - perfect for sleeping - nights. This cottage is located on a narrow section of a very long lake called Lac Saint Pierre. The slow and subtle burning off of the fog took about an hour in real time, and this time lapse transforms it into a 20-second, soft, swaying dance.

6-month-old blonde Norwich Terrier puppy, Miles, LOVES to wrestle and play with his father, 3-year-old Russell. And watch out for the camera! :) instagram.com/russell.and.miles/

It's no secret that Miles, a 1-year-old blonde Norwich Terrier puppy, is obsessed with racing his father, Russell, five years old. And watch out for the camera, guys!

When I was a child, I often rode my bicycle to my local library, and with card in hand, I would make my way to the very furthest reaches of this wondrous building, in search of books that covered UFOs, unexplained phenomena, and tales of mystery and imagination. Now, my “library” has expanded to my own backyard where my newly-purchased trail camera picks up on motion, either as an infra-red heat signature or as frame-comparing motion. If even the tiniest mouse creeps by in the middle of the night, my trusty camera awakens and records. With this new toy, the possibilities for discovery are endless! Last night, my camera started filming in the dead of night, for no discernible reason. There were no animals or anything that could cause extraneous motion that might alert my camera sensors. But … what have we here? I have slowed my captured footage of this luminous floating object down considerably. I have enlarged it. I have motion tracked it. And I have increased the contrast and the overall detail so we can all get a better look. What do YOU see?

Russell the Norwich terrier is three years old. His blondie son, Miles, is a three month old puppy. This is Miles very first time out in the country, and it’s a damp but warm September afternoon in North Bay, Ontario, Canada. For Miles, everything is brand new. Everything! And Miles can afford to be a little bit brave, as dad is always nearby. So imagine you are little Miles, experiencing nature in the country for the first time ever. Russell & Miles on Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/russell.and.miles/

RIck Simpson Oil is ideally made from heavy indica strains that are known for their pain-reducing, anxiety-reducing, and calming whole-body effects. This year I chose a strain called “Big Bud”. And was she ever! Coming in at just under 12 feet tall! (365 cm) (look up. Waaay up) In Canada we can legally cultivate up to 4 cannabis plants per household, which is what I did. This was my yield. You should make sure it’s as dry as possible. You really can’t over dry it. The results of 4 plants will easily squish into one bucket. Crunching it into smaller pieces will make the filtering process a lot easier and way more efficient. If at all possible, work OUTside. Alcohol is highly flammable and you’ll be boiling it! You’ll need the following materials. 4 plants, dried and crushed 2 large buckets 24 x 500 ml Isopropyl alcohol - as pure as you can get it. 99% (you may not use all 24 bottles, but anything unused will be fine for next year) 1 Stir stick 1 mesh filter (something with larger, more porous holes for the first filtering stage) 2 large coffee filters (for the final, more refined filtering) A Rice cooker A cup syringes. You can use 1, 5, or 10mL sizes. I suggest you make almost all of them the 5mL size, with perhaps a few 1mL size that you can give away to someone who wants to try it. Ok. Let’s get started. Pour in alcohol until the material is completely covered. I believe I used 13 bottles Give it a proper stir and let it soak for at least a few minutes. The longer the better to a certain extent. Five minutes should be plenty. The first, BIG FILTER STAGE Pour the material through the big filter into the empty bucket. Personally, I like to do this twice. I add fresh alcohol, stir it again, and then pour it through a second time. I want to be sure I get as much of the oil extracted as possible. Put the waste material in another container for eventual composting. FINE FILTER STAGE We’re going to filter the material much more finely now, using a coffee filter. I do this stage twice, as well, using a fresh coffee filter each time. OK. Here is the sum total of all your material, finely filtered and suspended in solvent. Now it’s time to heat it up and boil off the alcohol. Turn on the rice cooker and fill it up to about 3/4s full. Put the lid back on. It will come to a boil. And the alcohol will start burning off. Continually supervise and add more material as the alcohol continues to boil off. Gently swish the cooker around periodically to release all of the solvent and to protect the oil from too much heat Near the final stages, I suggest adding 10 drops of water (to further ensure that the oil doesn’t begin to burn) Once all the alcohol has evaporated, turn off the rice cooker - if it hasn’t done so already, automatically. Now you’re ready to extract the oil into syringes. REMEMBER, the oil will begin to cool very rapidly and as it cools, it becomes less and less fluid and more gooey, so make sure you’re well organized and prepared so you can work fast when you get to this point. Packaging it in syringes makes for easier oral consumption, topical application, and storage. And there you have it. Your own pure batch of finest quality, Rick Simpson Oil. To your health and happiness.

Norwich Terriers - like any dog - LOVE a good steak. But unlike most dog breeds, Norwich Terriers aren’t exactly ravenous for their food. They often take their time and may pause to do something else for a while and then come back a little later for more. Russell the Terrier may not always be ravenous, but he’s been smelling our barbecue all afternoon, so when he hears his name and spots the BBQ goodness - he’s off as fast as his cute little legs will take him.

This clip begins at the Tracy Arm Fiord near Juneau, Alaska and it was captured from one of the cabin balconies at the back of the ship. When you are sailing through calm waters, admiring the majesty of nature’s wilderness and such jaw-dropping sights as the giant ice walls of a massive glacier, you’ll understand why cruising is the best way to see Alaska. The scene in America’s Last Frontier is breathtaking from the water. As you cruise Alaska, past vast forests, fjords, and rugged coastline, you may spot eagles flying overhead, whales and sea lions in the water, and bears on the beach. Your ship also brings you to extraordinary coastal towns where frontier life and Alaska Native culture are on display, and wilderness exploration is just steps away. Here are some of the reasons a cruise is the best way to see Alaska. Get up Close to Glaciers Of all the amazing sights you’ll see from the sea, the most fascinating is Alaska’s glaciers. Your ship’s captain will navigate slowly and carefully past floating icebergs to bring you a front-row seat to a startlingly blue and giant wall of active, advancing ice. A cruise is the best way to see Alaska’s magnificent natural phenomenon. You’ll have the opportunity to admire glaciers from your veranda or one of your ship’s open decks as the glacier sheds massive chunks of ice—some as large as a five-story building—into the sea, a process known as calving. This is one of the many reasons why Alaska is one of the best places to cruise to in the world. Calving can be a surprisingly visceral experience. You hear the glacier crack and then a sound like thunder. As the ice crashes, you may feel cool air on your cheeks and perhaps the ripples of a wave passing under your ship. Hubbard Glacier, in Wrangell-St Elias National Park and Preserve, is North America’s largest tidewater glacier. The view here is a massive blue wall of ice as tall as a 30-story building above the waterline (and 250 feet below), stretching seven miles wide. Named for Gardiner Hubbard, the first president of the National Geographic Society, the glacier originates some 76 miles away. When the ice comes to its dramatic end here, you are watching a process that began with mountain snowfall some 500 years ago. Admiring this natural treasure is a once-in-a-lifetime experience of Mother Nature in all her glory. Hubbard is not alone on the dramatic glacier list. Some ships visit Endicott Arm, the southern edge of Tracy Arm, in a massive wilderness area near Juneau. Here, Dawes Glacier is a sight to behold, more than 600 feet tall (or equivalent to a 55-story building) and a half-mile wide. Dawes is known for its spectacular and frequent calving. Endicott Arm is also one of the largest breeding grounds for harbor seals. You may spot moms and their pups on the floating ice. See Amazing Wildlife From the Sea Much of the coastline in the Inside Passage and Gulf of Alaska is a wilderness comprised of snow-capped mountain peaks, glaciers, green rainforests, and stunning fjords. A cruise is the best way to see Alaska because you’ll have a viewing advantage where wildlife roams in their natural habitat. You may even wake up to views of eagles or whales outside your cabin window. Look for harbor seals lounging in drifting icebergs and Stellar sea lions hanging out in groups on craggy outcrops. Look to the sky to spot soaring eagles. Use your binoculars to check mountainsides for Dahl sheep and mountain goats with big black horns. Scan isolated beaches to search for lumbering bears. Always be on the lookout for whales—their blows are often the first thing you see. On your ship, a naturalist will be looking for wildlife. Announcements from the bridge will let you know when whales are sighted in the distance. Alaska attracts 16 species of whales. Small white beluga whales hang out in the Kenai Peninsula near Seward. Humpback whales, which may grow to 53 feet, may be spotted near Icy Strait Point and in Sitka Sound. Orcas (killer whales), the ocean’s top predator, tend to like the Inside Passage. Article excerpts from Celebrity Cruises.

The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts center in Sydney. Located on the waterfront of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous landmarks and a masterpiece of 20th-century architecture. . The Opera House is Sydney's most famous landmark. It is a multipurpose performing arts facility whose largest venue is the 2,679-seat Concert Hall, which often hosts symphonic concerts, choral performances and popular music performances. Opera and dance performances, including ballets, are staged in the Opera House (renamed the Joan Sutherland Theater in 2012 in honour of the famous Australian opera soprano), which seats more than 1,500. . There are also three theaters of different sizes and configurations for plays, film screenings and small musical performances. . The forecourt at the southeastern end of the complex is used for outdoor performances. . The building also houses a restaurant and a professional recording studio. . In 2007, the Opera House was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. . The Sydney opera house was designed by Bertram Stevens and built between 1973 and 1982 . The Sydney Opera House allows visitors to roam freely within the grounds. When the theater is not showing, you can go in and admire the interior. You can click as many photos as you want, use their toilets, and enjoy the view from the huge steps. Catching a show at one of the six theaters that host operas, musicals and other live entertainment is a great way to experience the place. . Some of the regular performances in resident companies include the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Bangara Dance Theatre, Opera Australia, Sydney Theater Company, Bell Shakespeare, Sydney Symphony Orchestra and The Australian Ballet. . The Opera House is also at the center of a culinary experience, the best of which is the Bennelong Restaurant. It is run by renowned Australian chef Peter Gilmore. The restaurant offers a gourmet menu including some of Australia's best wine and food. Book ahead for a table with harbor views, and if not, you can always head to the trendy bar. . Children and theater don't always mix, so the Sydney Opera House offers Teen Adventures to let your little ones experience the joy of live theatre. The tour lasts one hour. You can accompany your children while professional guides share interesting stories and engage them in interactive activities. Finally, the child has a chance to dress up! . You can also visit the Royal Botanic Gardens, take a short walk along the waterfront from the Sydney Opera House, and visit Circular Quay if you want to take a leisurely stroll south along the Promenade from the Sydney Opera House. . All in all, a trip to Sydney is not worth a trip to Sydney without visiting the Sydney Opera House with family or friends and its musicals, operas, plays, live entertainment and beautiful surroundings. For a blend of architecture, art, culture and incredible harbor views, visit the Sydney Opera House.

Happy just to be Outside! 3-month-old Norwich Terrier puppy Miles is first out the door, followed closely by his dad, 3-yr-old Russell. Happy Happy Music:Good In The Wood by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Artist: http://audionautix.com/

How's that for a headline? You never know who or what will cross your path on a busy summer’s touristy day here in downtown Barcelona, Spain. And I think the best thing about it is that passersby hardly give Mr. Horse a glance, and if they do, he makes them smile. Oh, and there’s a beautiful church at the end.

The Dutch - and in fact many Europeans - LOVE their bicycles. In Amsterdam, people own an estimated 881,000 bicycles! From a 2015 article by Renate van der Zee, entitled: How Amsterdam became the bicycle capital of the world: In the 1960s, Dutch cities were increasingly deferring to motorists, with the car seen as the transport of the future. It took the intolerable toll of child traffic deaths – and fierce activism – to turn Amsterdam into the cycling nirvana of today Anyone who has ever tried to make their way through the centre of Amsterdam in a car knows it: the city is owned by cyclists. They hurry in swarms through the streets, unbothered by traffic rules, taking precedence whenever they want, rendering motorists powerless by their sheer numbers. Cyclists rule in Amsterdam and great pains have been taken to accommodate them: the city is equipped with an elaborate network of cycle-paths and lanes, so safe and comfortable that even toddlers and elderly people use bikes as the easiest mode of transport. It’s not only Amsterdam which boasts a network of cycle-paths, of course; you’ll find them in all Dutch cities. The Dutch take this for granted; they even tend to believe these cycle-paths have existed since the beginning of time. But that is certainly not the case. There was a time, in the 1950s and 60s, when cyclists were under severe threat of being expelled from Dutch cities by the growing number of cars. Only thanks to fierce activism and a number of decisive events would Amsterdam succeed in becoming what it is, unquestionably, now: the bicycle capital of the world. The amount of trips made by bicycle in Amsterdam plunged from 80% to 20% between the 1950s and 70s. At the start of the 20th century, bikes far outnumbered cars in Dutch cities and the bicycle was considered a respectable mode of transport for men and women. But when the Dutch economy began to boom in the post-war era, more and more people were able to afford cars, and urban policymakers came to view the car as the travel mode of the future. Entire Amsterdam neighbourhoods were destroyed to make way for motorised traffic. The use of bikes decreased by 6% every year, and the general idea was that bicycles would eventually disappear altogether. The streets no longer belonged to the people who lived there, but to huge traffic flows All that growing traffic took its toll. The number of traffic casualties rose to a peak of 3,300 deaths in 1971. More than 400 children were killed in traffic accidents that year. This staggering loss led to protests by different action groups, the most memorable of which was Stop de Kindermoord (“stop the child murder”). Its first president was the Dutch former MEP, Maartje van Putten. “I was a young mother living in Amsterdam and I witnessed several traffic accidents in my neighbourhood where children got hurt,” van Putten, 63, recalls. “I saw how parts of the city were torn down to make way for roads. I was very worried by the changes that took place in society – it affected our lives. The streets no longer belonged to the people who lived there, but to huge traffic flows. That made me very angry.” In the 1960s Amsterdam was in danger of being given over to the car – many wide new roads were built with little or no cycle provision. In the 1960s planners viewed the car as the travel mode of the future, and swaths of the city were destroyed to make way for motorised traffic. The 1970s were a great time for being angry in Holland: activism and civil disobedience were rampant. Stop de Kindermoord grew rapidly and its members held bicycle demonstrations, occupied accident blackspots, and organised special days during which streets were closed to allow children to play safely: “We put tables outside and held a huge dinner party in our street. And the funny thing was, the police were very helpful.” Van Putten remembers the 70s as a time when Dutch authorities were remarkably accessible: “We simply went to tea with MPs – and they really listened to what we had to say. We cycled with a group of activists and an organ grinder to the house of the prime minister, Joop den Uyl, to sing songs and ask for safer streets for children. We didn’t get beyond the hallway, but he did come out to hear our plea.” We had a great fighting spirit and we knew how to voice our ideas. And in the end, we would get our bicycle lane. Stop de Kindermoord became subsidised by the Dutch government, established its headquarters in a former shop, and went on to develop ideas for safer urban planning – which eventually resulted in the woonerf: a new kind of people-friendly street with speed bumps and bends to force cars to drive very slowly. Nowadays the woonerf has gone out of fashion, but it can still be found in many Dutch cities. Two years after Stop de Kindermoord was established, another group of activists founded the First Only Real Dutch Cyclists’ Union to demand more space for bicycles in the public realm – organising bike rides along dangerous stretches of road, and compiling inventories of the problems encountered by cyclists. An estimated 38% of all trips in Amsterdam are made by bike – compared with 2% in London. “Somehow we managed to strike a chord,” says Tom Godefrooij, 64, who got involved with the Cyclists’ Union as a young man. He remembers noisy mass demonstrations with tricycles and megaphones, and nightly ventures to paint illegal bicycle lanes in streets the union considered dangerous. “First we would be arrested by the police, of course, but then the whole thing would be in the newspapers and municipal politicians would eventually listen. We had a great fighting spirit and we knew how to voice our ideas. And in the end, we would get our bicycle lane. Even in the 70s, you know, there were politicians who understood that the general focus on cars would eventually cause problems.” The activists of Stop de Kindermoord and the Cyclists’ Union were resourceful and undaunted, but there were other forces helping to create a fertile soil for their ideas. The Netherlands – possessing few hills and a mild climate – had a great tradition of cycling to begin with and the bike was never completely marginalised as it was in some other countries. The intolerable number of traffic deaths really was a serious concern for politicians, and there was a nascent awareness of the pollution caused by vehicle emissions. The 1973 oil crisis – when Saudi Arabia and other Arab oil exporters imposed an embargo on the US, Britain, Canada, Japan and the Netherlands for supporting Israel in the Yom Kippur war – quadrupled the price of oil. During a television speech, prime minister Den Uyl urged Dutch citizens to adopt a new lifestyle and get serious about saving energy. The government proclaimed a series of car-free Sundays: intensely quiet weekend days when children played on deserted motorways and people were suddenly reminded of what life was like before the hegemony of the car. People in Amsterdam own an estimated 881,000 bicycles. On one of these car-free Sundays, Maartje van Putten, together with a group of other parents and children, rode her bike through a tunnel to the northern part of Amsterdam, in which no provisions for cyclists had been made. “We didn’t realise that what we did was dangerous, because there were still some cars on the road. Our trip ended at the police station, but we made our point.” Gradually, Dutch politicians became aware of the many advantages of cycling, and their transport policies shifted – maybe the car wasn’t the mode of transport of the future after all. In the 1980s, Dutch towns and cities began introducing measures to make their streets more cycle-friendly. Initially, their aims were far from ambitious; the idea was simply to keep cyclists on their bikes. The Hague and Tilburg were the first to experiment with special cycle routes through the city. “The bicycle paths were bright red and very visible; this was something completely new,” says Godefrooij. “Cyclists would change their routes to use the paths. It certainly helped to keep people on their bikes, but in the end it turned out that one single bicycle route did not lead to an overall increase in cycling.” Subsequently, the city of Delft constructed a whole network of cycle paths and it turned out that this did encourage more people to get on their bikes. One by one, other cities followed suit. Nowadays the Netherlands boasts 22,000 miles of cycle paths. More than a quarter of all trips are made by bicycle, compared with 2% in the UK – and this rises to 38% in Amsterdam and 59% in the university city of Groningen. All major Dutch cities have designated “bicycle civil servants”, tasked to maintain and improve the network. And the popularity of the bike is still growing, thanks partly to the development of electric bicycles. The Cyclists’ Union has long ceased to be a group of random activists; it is now a respectable organisation with 34,000 paying members whose expertise is in worldwide demand. “We have achieved a lot, but we’re facing many new challenges,” says their spokesman, Wim Bot. “Many old cycle paths need to be reconstructed because they do not measure up to our modern standards – some are used by so many people that they are no longer wide enough. We have the problem of parking all those bikes, and we are thinking of new ways to create even more space for cyclists and pedestrians. What our cities really need is a totally new kind of infrastructure. They’re simply not fit for so much car traffic.” “The battle goes on,” says Godefrooij. “The propensity of urban planners to give priority to cars is still persistent. It’s easy to understand: an extra tunnel for cyclists means you have to spend extra money on the project. We’ve come a long way, but we can never lower our guard.”

Where I live, black squirrels are much more common than grey squirrels. In fact, I didn’t know they were any kind of a deal until one day, I had a friend visiting from the USA and as we were driving through my neighbourhood, she said, “Stop the car! I think I just saw a BLACK squirrel!” I thought she was being funny until she told me she had never seen one before. But as I say, growing up here - most squirrels are black, with a few grey here and there. In fact, if you go to wikipedia and look up black squirrels, the photo they use is from Ottawa, Canada - where I live. It’s thought that the black is the result of an abnormal pigment gene. Several theories have surfaced as to why the "black morph" occurs, with some suggesting that the black morph is a selective advantage for squirrels inhabiting the northern ranges of the species, with the black-fur providing a thermal advantage over its non-melanistic counterpart. (Black keeps you warmer)

Did you know that the Alaskan coastline is longer than all the other U.S. states combined?! Our Celebrity cruise took us past mountains and streams, sailing alongside the icy beauty of some of the world's most impressive glaciers, from the Hubbard Glacier and the Tracy Arm Fjord.

We found an abandoned 3 week old kitten under our cottage. It’s very COLD at night, in October, in Canada, in Northern Quebec, so we put Val by the fire. We called her Val because our cottage is in Val des Monts, Quebec. We gave Val a hot water bottle and put her near our warm fireplace for the night. Still, she cried a lot but she would always stop when we held her. In the morning, we got some kitten formula because the vet wasn’t open on Sunday. The next day we took her to the vet who examined her and said she was in great condition. Val is now healthy and safe and will soon find a good home.

Miles, a 6-month-old Norwich Terrier puppy, tries in vain to shake the snow off his face. It certainly doesn’t shake free as easily as water lol —— And here we are on Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/russell.and.miles/

I took a relaxing ride through Barcelona on a September afternoon atop the famous hop on-hop off tourist bus. Since I was relaxing, I only took a few shots—most of them focused on the 38-story bullet-shaped glass building, the Torre Glòries. The tower stands in the Poblenou neighborhood of Barcelona, where it marks the entrance to the new technological district of the city. Designed by French architect Jean Nouvel, the Torre Glòries stands over 144 meters high and cost 130 million Euros to build. When it opened in 2005, it had the name “Agbar Tower”, after the multinational group Agbar, whose corporate headquarters it houses. In 2017 the building was purchased by Merlin Properties, who changed its name to Glòries, the name of the adjacent square. The architect said he was inspired by the shape of a geyser rising up into the air, as well as by Montserrat, a mountain near Barcelona. Also, he described the tower as “phallic” in character. The tower has inspired many nicknames over the years, such as “the suppository” and the “shell,” to name the milder of them. This double-decker tourist bus has three different routes, going by all of Barcelona’s top landmarks and attractions for a single ticket price. The bus provides a free audio guide (available in 11 languages), and as its name suggests, you can hop on and off as many times as you like.

While road-tripping high in the Sierra Nevada mountains, near Lake Tahoe and Reno, we came across a herd of wild mustangs grazing in the hills next to the highway. Of the approximately 10 million horses in America, about 70,000 of them are wild and living on protected public lands. And over half of these wild horses live here, in Nevada, many of them clustered around Carson City, where we’re driving at the moment. Nevada is the seventh-largest state in size, and almost 90 percent of its land is owned by the federal government. Wild Mustangs are icons of American culture. For Americans, wild horses are symbols of freedom. And their heritage is honored and protected. They are descendants of escaped, domestic Spanish horses brought to this land by early Spanish explorers. Horses are naturally curious, so pulling over to the side of the road and taking some video of them was easy enough. They certainly are majestic beasts to behold.

My backyard pond provides a protected, comfortable and natural environment for my neighbourhood critters. Birds, in particular, love to bathe in my waterfall/pond. Lots of sparrows, chickadees and blackbirds, but today - it’s a pair of cardinals! The bright red male sits high atop a telephone pole, keeping lookout while his female partner takes some Me time to freshen up. Female cardinals - unlike the bold red of their male counterparts - are known for their subtler, pale brown coloring with gentle reddish tips on the crest, tail and on their wings. They have the same color of bill and the same black face mask. Normally, pairs of cardinals stay together throughout the year and may breed for several seasons. They live an average of one year although there have been records of longer life spans.

A large crowd walks from the Byward Market in downtown Ottawa to Parliament Hill, on a beautiful September afternoon.

If you've never seen one of these before, you'll get a giggle out of it.